33rd IIUM Convocation Programme Book

16 33rd IIUM Convocation Ceremony Majlis Konvokesyen IIUM ke-33 The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is the manifestation of one of the major aspirations of Muslim scholars in Malaysia to have an Islamic university in Malaysia to lead the Muslim ummah in all branches of knowledge. The plan to establish IIUM was revealed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 12 January 1982 after deliberating with the Education Minister, senior government officers and senior academics from local universities. The university was officially established on 20 May 1983 by the Government of Malaysia. The philosophy of IIUM was inspired by the outcomes of the 1977 First World Conference on Muslim Education in Makkah. IIUM was founded under the Companies Act of 1965 that enabled it to use English and Arabic as the medium of instruction and enhance its global orientation. IIUM integrates Islamic values and world-view into its humanities, scientific and technical curricula, befitting its university slogan “The Garden of Virtue and Knowledge”. This is reflected in IIUM educational philosophy and its logo. IIUM aspires to restore the roles of Muslims in education and knowledge creation and acquisition and to contribute to the improvement of quality of life for all mankind. Befitting the Premier International Islamic Research University (PREMIER) status awarded by ISESCO on 17 December 2014, it provides an extensive, comprehensive learning environment conducive for conducting advanced research in various disciplines.It is the quality of the learning, comparative knowledge and research environments that attracted the high concentration of talent by which IIUM is known for. IIUM off ers various postgraduate, professional and leadership training programmes especially in its niche areas; namely Islamic Services and Islamic Products. In 2015, the University has been recognised as the pioneer in the discipline of Islamic Banking and Finance globally and and is now considered as the global referral point for the discipline. To ensure delivery of quality tertiary education, IIUM employs accomplished scholars, and committed professionals. As of October 2016, there are 2000 administrative and about 1980 academic staff . More than 80% of the total academic staff are with doctoral qualifi cations. Many have had prior experience before joining the University. The University has 14 faculties, three institutes and one Centre for Strategic Continuing Education and Training. In addition to academic excellence, IIUM ensures that the students are trained to be responsible, imbued with good ethics, high moral values and professionalism, lifelong learning, managerial and entrepreneurial skills as well as leadership skills. IIUM gives great emphasis on good character or Budi as part of the education process of its students, ensuring they have good moral values . This is in line with the Islamic teachings which emphasize on developing good moral character. IIUM is ranked in the top ten of the world’s best varsity debate teams. IIUM English varsity debaters have received many international accolades including becoming champions at the 2016 Asian British Parliamentary (ABP) Debating Championship in Jakarta and the Cambridge Intervarsity Debating Competition 2016. IIUM individual debaters have received .the Asian Best Debater Award and Best Debater Award in Cambridge. The Malay Language Debating Team has also done well. It won the Environmental Debate Competition three years in a row. The IIUM Arabic debaters and orators team have received many recognitions in debate, public speaking, quranic memorization, recitation and tajwid at local and international competitions. IIUMhas several campuses spread across several states ofMalaysia; each providing diff erent fields of study. The Gombak campus in Kuala Lumpur houses the university’s administration as well as the Kulliyyahs (Faculties) of Laws, Economics and Management Sciences, lslamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, Architecture and Environmental Design, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering, Education and Languages and Management. The campus offers a complete range of facilities including on-campus housing, a mosque, two state-of-the-art sports complexes with olympic-size swimming pools, a fully equipped library with more than two (2) million printed and digital materials supported by online databases, a medical clinic, convenience stores, a post offi ce, and threeMalaysian commercial banks. ABOUT INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA (IIUM)